JUNE FINISH EXPECTED FOR DELRAY BEACH BYPASS

A year overdue and at least $100,000 over budget, the downtown bypass will be completed in June, officials said Monday.

Construction of the bypass began on Southeast and Northeast First streets about 18 months ago but was stopped after a few months when officials failed to plan several key elements in the project, including rebuilding railroad crossings and installing necessary traffic lights.

City Engineer Jerry Church said Monday that construction of the railroad crossings will begin in a few weeks. He also said that state Department of Transportation workers soon will begin installing five traffic lights along the route.

The traffic lights and the railroad crossings will add about $100,000 to the cost of the project, which was originally estimated at $300,000.

The bypass will turn Northeast and Southeast First streets into one-way roads. Drivers heading west through the downtown will be encouraged to get off the one-lane Atlantic Avenue route and travel the less congested two lanes on Northeast First. Southeast First will be a one-way street heading east.

"We want to try to get some of the traffic off Atlantic Avenue," Church said. "And we want to try to encourage people to shop on Atlantic Avenue."

Officials hope less traffic on the avenue will encourage more people to come downtown. And opening the bypass in June will give local residents a chance to get used to the new system before the tourists come.

"We're hoping to be driving one way on those streets in June," Downtown Development Authority Chairwoman Connie Tuttle said. "And that's not really so bad. It will give us six months to get accustomed to it. And then we can show our part-time residents around."

In planning the project, officials failed to design new railroad crossings to accommodate the one-way streets. Each crossing will cost about $25,000 to rebuild, officials said.

Officials also said they were surprised when the Florida Department of Transportation required traffic lights be installed on Federal Highway in conjunction with the project. Lights will be installed at Southeast First Street and Fifth Avenue (Federal Highway southbound), Southeast First Street and Sixth Avenue (Federal Highway northbound) and Northeast First and Fifth Avenue. Lights also will be installed at Southeast and Northeast First streets at Swinton Avenue.

"One of the problems when we began this project is that we did it in such a rush," City Manager James Pennington said. "They wanted it done. And when you try to rush a project like that, you're bound to make mistakes.

"We've been trying to coordinate things with the county and the state, and with ourselves."

The project also stalled when the county delayed road construction on Swinton Avenue. And since construction began on Swinton last November, the project has been delayed several times when the city was forced to replace a water main beneath the road.

When completed, city officials hope the Department of Transportation will take control of the one-way streets and hand Atlantic Avenue over to the city.

Gaining control of the avenue will allow downtown officials to close off the streets for festivals and downtown promotional events. It also would prevent the state from taking away parking on the avenue to ease the traffic flow.